Matt Gould

Trustee        Email: matt.gould@rdpsd.ab.ca      Phone:(403) 309-3490

Overview

Today’s learners are the citizens, artists, innovators, leaders and workers of tomorrow, and at the core of their ability to be responsible, curious and productive people lies good, solid, broad-based, inclusive and well-funded public education.

We live in challenging times; the climate crisis, systemic and pervasive racism; homo, bi and trans phobias: economic inequality.  It would be naive of me to think that Red Deer Public Schools can single-handedly tackle these issues, but as a Board and a division, we can inspire and encourage and lead the charge as we help to shape, support and encourage today’s young people to think big and act creatively. You never know where the next big idea will come from. Why not from a bright young mind (or minds) in Red Deer Public Schools?

I feel that my long history of working with young people has led me to this place in time and has given me a unique perspective as a Trustee. I have sailed the high seas as Youth Program Coordinator on Celebrity Cruises, acted as Artistic Director of Red Deer’s award-winning Tree House Youth theatre and taught at Red Deer College. I have also created large-scale theatre pieces for Artsparks on the Boards, which was a community initiative that paired people with developmental disabilities, local youth and adults from the community at large.

As a first-time Trustee, I am thrilled to be a part of the wonderful and ever evolving experiment  called public education and I often think of the poet W.B. Yeats' idea that “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”